--2009--

Looking back on the months gone by,

As a new year starts and an old one ends,

We contemplate what brought us joy,

And we think of our loved ones and our friends.

~

Recalling all the happy times,

Remembering how they enriched our lives

We reflect upon who really counts,

As the fresh and bright new year arrives.

~

And when I/we ponder those who do,

I/we immediately think of you.

~
Thanks for being one of the reasons I'll/We'll have a Happy New Year!

~

~

--Cuba's revolution turns 50--

HAVANA - In the palace of a fallen dictator, the grade-school kids in their red Communist Pioneer bandanas are getting their mandatory introduction to the glories of the revolution.

Clattering from one display case to the next, they gaze wide-eyed at an antique gun, a fighter's bloodied shirt, the engine of a downed U.S. spy plane. Moving on, they stare at the yacht named Granma that carried Fidel Castro back from exile to launch his guerrilla war, and the combat boots his brother-successor wore as a ponytailed 27-year-old rebel.

The palace of Fulgencio Batista, the ruler whom Castro overthrew, is now the Museum of the Revolution, and these 6- and 7-year-olds are the heirs to a communist government about to turn 50 — a system that may be softening at the edges but appears determined to crush any threat to its grip on power, lest it crumble like its one-time godfather, the Soviet Union.

Since Castro declared victory on New Year's Day, 1959, the day after Batista fled the country, his rule has prevailed through 10 U.S. presidents, the U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion, a world-shaking missile crisis, the U.S. embargo, the Soviet collapse and the onslaught of globalization. Now 82, he is ailing and out of sight but still the head of the Communist Party of Cuba. Raul Castro, his successor as president, is taking baby steps toward change and vowing to fend off any challenge to his brother's legacy.

~http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28333287/

~http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3097447.stm

~http://www.cuba50.org/?page=newsitem&article=69

--Garota de Ipanema--

"The Girl from Ipanema" ("Garota de Ipanema") is a well-known bossa nova song, a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s that won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes with English lyrics written later by Norman Gimbel.

The first commercial recording was in 1962, by Pery Ribeiro. The version performed by Astrud Gilberto, along with João Gilberto and Stan Getz, from the 1963 album Getz/Gilberto, became an international hit, reaching #5 in the U.S., #29 in the UK, and charting highly throughout the world. Numerous recordings have been used in movies, sometimes as an elevator music cliché (for example, near the end of The Blues Brothers).

In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.[1]
Although Astrud Gilberto's original version was "The Girl from Ipanema", when covered by other female artists the song has often been rendered as "The Boy from Ipanema", with gender-specific lyrics.

~

~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_from_Ipanema

--Benito Mussolini--

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, GCB KSMOM GCTE (July 29, 1883, Predappio, Italy – April 28, 1945, Giulino di Mezzegra, Italy) was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism. He became the Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by 1925. After 1936, his official title was "His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism, and Founder of the Empire".[1] Mussolini also created and held the supreme military rank of First Marshal of the Empire along with King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, which gave him and the King joint supreme control over the military of Italy. Mussolini remained in power until he was replaced in 1943; for a short period after this until his death he was the leader of the Italian Social Republic.

~

Mussolini was among the founders of Italian fascism, which included elements of nationalism, corporatism, national syndicalism, expansionism, social progress and anti-communism in combination with censorship of subversives and state propaganda. In the years following his creation of the fascist ideology, Mussolini influenced, or achieved admiration from, a wide variety of political figures.[2]
Among the domestic achievements of Mussolini from the years 1924–1939 were: his public works programmes such as the taming of the Pontine Marshes, the improvement of job opportunities, and public transport. Mussolini also solved the Roman Question by concluding the Lateran Treaty between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See. He is also credited with securing economic success in Italy's colonies and commercial dependencies.

~

Although he initially favoured siding with France against Germany in the early 1930s, Mussolini became one of the main figures of the Axis powers and, on 10 June 1940, Mussolini led Italy into World War II on the side of Axis. Three years later, Mussolini was deposed at the Grand Council of Fascism, prompted by the Allied invasion. Soon after his incarceration began, Mussolini was rescued from prison in the daring Gran Sasso raid by German special forces.

~

Following his rescue, Mussolini headed the Italian Social Republic in parts of Italy that were not occupied by Allied forces. In late April, 1945, with total defeat looming, Mussolini attempted to escape to Switzerland, only to be captured and summarily executed near Lake Como by Communist Italian partisans. His body was taken to Milan where it was hung upside down at a petrol station for public viewing and to provide confirmation of his demise.

~

~

~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini

--关羽--

　关羽（160?-220），字云长，本字长生，身长约合1.98米，并州 河东解县人（今山西运城市），汉族。一直是历来民间崇祀的对象，东汉末年刘备麾下著名将领，前将军，汉寿亭侯。演义中为五虎上将之首，与刘备，张飞桃园结义。死后受民间推崇，又经历代朝廷褒封，被人奉为关圣帝君，佛教称为伽蓝菩萨，尊称为“关公”。被后来的统治者崇为“武圣”，与号为“文圣”的孔子齐名。有“千里走单骑”“单刀赴会”“温酒斩华雄”“过五关斩六将”的佳话。

~

关羽的专用兵器：青龙偃月刀

~

~http://baike.baidu.com/view/2275.htm

--CityCenter Las Vegas 2009--

- 4,004-room 61-story ARIA Resort & Casino (Cesar Pelli)

- 165,000-square-foot casino (Pelli)

- 400-room + 227 condos - Mandarin Oriental Hotel/Residences (Pedersen / Tihany)

- 400-room + 207 condos - The Harmon Hotel/Residences (Foster and Partners)

- 1543-unit Vdara Condo/Hotel tower (Rafael Viñoly)

- Twin, 337-unit luxury condo towers Veer (Helmut Jahn)

- 500,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space The Crystals Mall (Daniel Libeskind)

- $40 million worth of modern sculptures and installations by world famous artists

- 225,000 square feet of convention and meeting space

- 900,000 square feet for back-of-house operations

- 2,000-seat theater

- 70,000-square-foot spa

- 7,500-car parking garage

- Fire station

- People movers (trams)

- On-site power plant

~

~http://www.citycenter.com/

~

~http://www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com/citycenter.htm

--Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill--

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a Nobel Prize-winning writer, and an artist.
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During his army career, Churchill saw combat in India, in the Sudan and the Second Boer War. He gained fame and notoriety as a war correspondent and through contemporary books he wrote describing the campaigns. He also served briefly in the British Army on the Western Front in World War I, commanding the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.
~
At the forefront of the political scene for almost fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War, he served as President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty as part of the Asquith Liberal government. During the war he continued as First Lord of the Admiralty until the disastrous Battle of Gallipoli caused his departure from government. He returned as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air. In the interwar years, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Conservative government.
~
After the outbreak of the Second World War, Churchill was again appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, he became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and led Britain to victory against the Axis powers. Churchill was always noted for his speeches, which became a great inspiration to the British people and embattled Allied forces.
~
After losing the 1945 election, he became Leader of the Opposition. In 1951, he again became Prime Minister before finally retiring in 1955. Elizabeth II offered to create him Duke of London, but this was declined due to the objections of his son Randolph, who would have inherited the title on his father's death. Upon his death the Queen granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of statesmen in the world.
~
~
~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill